From JP 2001-39 604 A, a device for overlapping sheets, having at least one blower module and one infeed table, is known, wherein a plurality of sheets are fed on the infeed table in succession, spaced from one another and in the same direction of transport, into the region of the blower module, wherein a blower nozzle is arranged in the blower module, on the side thereof that faces the infeed table, and the blowing direction of the blower nozzle is aligned parallel to the infeed table, opposite the direction of transport of the sheets.
From DE 196 43 600 A1, a method for influencing sheets that are being conveyed overlapping one another to a printing machine is known, wherein the sheets are transported by means of conveyor belts into the region of front and/or side lay marks, and each sheet to be aligned is held by additional means, which act on the region in which the sheet to be aligned overlaps with next sheet in the sequence, in an operative connection with the next sheet in the sequence, which is forcibly guided by conveyor belts, in such a way that a movement with at least three degrees of freedom of the sheet to be aligned can be realized.
From DE 10 2004 007 404 A1, a method for guiding sheets to a sheet-processing machine is known, in which the adhesive force between two successive sheets in an overlapping stream is reduced by lifting the trailing edge of the first sheet.
Known from DE 10 2010 041 453 A1 is a sheet-fed printing machine having an infeed table for conveying sheets in an overlapping sequence to a first printing mechanism of the sheet-fed printing machine, wherein a sheet to be aligned can be placed on the infeed table on feed marks, and above the overlapping sequence, a sheet guidance mechanism is provided, which has at least one blower unit, by means of which an air flow onto the trailing edge of the sheet to be aligned can be generated, wherein at least one device for lifting the trailing edge of the sheet to be aligned is assigned to the infeed table, said device being located beneath the overlapping sequence of sheets.
From EP 0 792 742 A1, a device for guiding sheet-type material within a printing machine is known, having a guide surface arranged beneath the sheet-type material and having nozzles arranged in zones within the guide surface, wherein a first zone extends along the longitudinal axis of the guide surface and a second and a third zone are each arranged to the side of the first zone, wherein the nozzles arranged in the first zone are in the form of blower nozzles, the blowing direction of which is directed substantially in the sheet transport direction, and wherein the nozzles arranged in the second and third zones are in the form of blower nozzles, the blowing direction of which is directed substantially away from the longitudinal axis of the guide surface toward the lateral edges of the guide surface, wherein blower air can be supplied to the nozzles of the first zone separately from the nozzles of the second and third zones.
From EP 1 757 450 A2, a sheet-fed printing machine is known, having a feeder for printing sheets to be printed, in which case the feeder removes sheets from a feed pile, and having at least one printing unit and/or varnishing unit for printing the printing sheets, and having a delivery for discharging printed sheets, and having at least one device for corona treatment of the printed sheets, to increase the surface tension of the printed sheets and thus the wettability of the same with printing ink and/or varnish, wherein a) the feeder is embodied as a single-sheet feeder, which separates the printing sheets removed from the feed pile in such a way that said sheets can be conveyed without overlap in the region of a conveyor table located downstream of the single-sheet feeder as viewed in the direction of conveyance of the printing sheets, b) the conveyor table comprises at least two conveyor systems arranged one behind the other as viewed in the direction of conveyance of the printed sheets, wherein a plurality of corona treatment devices are arranged in the region of the conveyor table and can be used to subject the printing sheets to a full-surface corona treatment on the upper side and the underside of each, c) as viewed in the direction of conveyance of the printing sheets, downstream of the conveyor table, an overlapping device is positioned, which generates an overlapping stream of partially overlapping printing sheets from the printing sheets being conveyed without overlap in the region of the conveyor table, and d) the printing sheets can be fed in the form of an overlapping stream across a feed table positioned downstream of the overlapping device as viewed in the direction of conveyance of the printing sheets, to a printing unit or varnishing unit.
From EP 2 540 513 A1, a machine arrangement for the sequential processing of a plurality of sheet-type substrates each having a front side and a reverse side is known, said machine arrangement including a first printing cylinder and a second printing cylinder, wherein on the periphery of the first printing cylinder, at least one first non-impact printing unit for printing the front side of the substrate in question is provided, and downstream of the first non-impact printing unit in the direction of rotation of the first printing cylinder, a dryer for drying the front side of the substrate in question, which has been printed by the first non-impact printing unit, is provided, and wherein on the periphery of the second printing cylinder, at least one second non-impact printing unit for printing the reverse side of the substrate in question is provided, and downstream of the second non-impact printing unit in the direction of rotation of the second printing cylinder, a dryer for drying the reverse side of the substrate in question, which has been printed by the second non-impact printing unit, is provided; the first printing cylinder and the second printing cylinder are arranged forming a common roller nip, and in this common roller nip, the first printing cylinder transfers the substrate in question, which has been printed and dried on its front side, directly to the second printing cylinder.
From DE 103 12 870 A1, a digital printing machine for sheet-fed printing is known, having a digital printing couple with free format in the peripheral direction, an intermediate cylinder which is at least partially coated with an elastic material and is connected downstream of the digital printing couple, and an impression cylinder connected downstream of the intermediate cylinder, wherein the impression cylinder has sheet-holding grippers, and the intermediate cylinder has recesses for receiving the grippers, arranged on its periphery.
From DE 10 2014 010 904 B3, a device for printing on both sides of sheet-type printing substrates is known, in which the printing substrate is guided through more than 360° on an impression cylinder, with the printing substrate arriving with its reverse side in the operative region of an ink application unit, by which the printing substrate has already been printed on its front side on an impression cylinder upstream, the ink application unit preferably being pivotable between two successive impression cylinders, and the pivotable ink application unit being, e.g. an inkjet print head.
From DE 10 2005 021 185 A1, a device for applying opaque white or an effect coating layer is known, wherein the effect coating layer is dried or cured after application and is subsequently overprinted; one or more inkjet print heads are provided within a printing machine, the one or more inkjet print heads for applying the opaque white or the effect coating layer directly onto the printing substrate or indirectly onto the substrate with an intermediate layer therebetween being arranged or arrangeable upstream of the infeed to or within the printing machine along the transport path of the printing substrate.
From DE 10 2009 000 518 A1, a sheet-fed printing machine is known, which comprises a feeder for loading sheets to be printed into the sheet-fed printing machine, at least one printing unit and/or coating unit for printing the sheet with a static print image which is identical for all the sheets, a delivery for channeling printed sheets out of the sheet-fed printing machine, and at least one printing unit that operates without a printing form, integrated into the sheet-fed printing machine, for printing the sheets with a variable, in particular dynamic print image, wherein the or each form-free printing unit is integrated into the sheet-fed printing machine such that it can be controlled dependent upon process parameters or operating parameters or print order parameters or quality parameters.
From EP 2 657 025 A1, a sheet conveying device is known, which comprises the following components: a first conveyance unit comprising a first holder, which holds one edge of a sheet and conveys the sheet held by the first holder; a second conveyance unit comprising a second holder, which holds the one edge of the sheet and conveys the sheet held by the second holder; a third conveyance unit, wherein the third conveyance unit comprises a third holder that holds the other edge of the sheet being conveyed by the first conveyance unit, and conveys the sheet being held by the third holder; an independent drive unit that independently drives the first conveyance unit; a device drive unit that drives the entire device including the second conveyance unit and the third conveyance unit; and a control unit that controls the independent drive unit to adjust the speed at which the third conveyance unit conveys the sheet in one direction, based on the dimensions of the sheet, wherein the first conveyance unit comprises a rotatably mounted transport cylinder, and the independent drive unit comprises an independent drive motor that drives the transport cylinder independently of a device drive system, wherein the third conveyance unit is mounted so as to be pivotable between a receiving position, in which the third conveyance unit receives the sheet from the first conveyance unit, and a transfer position, in which the third conveyance unit transfers the sheet to the second conveyance unit, and with a further inclusion of a fourth conveyance unit, located on an upstream side of the transport cylinder in a sheet conveyance direction, comprises a fourth holder, which holds one edge of the sheet and transfers the sheet held by the fourth holder to the first holder of the transport cylinder, wherein the control unit controls the independent drive motor to adjust the rotational speed of the transport cylinder to coincide with the dimensions of the sheet in the direction of conveyance, so that the other edge of the sheet being conveyed by the transport cylinder is opposite the third holder when the third conveyance unit is detected in the sheet receiving position, and the fourth holder of the fourth conveyance unit is opposite the first holder of the first conveyance unit once the sheet has been transferred to the third holder.
From DE 10 33 225 A, a sheet feeder for printing machines is known, in which continuous belts travel above a vacuum space, said space being closed off and the vacuum being active only in openings (suckers) in the belt opposite the paper pile or individual paper sheets, so that the sheet is carried along by the belts, wherein the belts are made of wear-resistant steel, wherein adjacent to and behind the sucker points, blower openings (chambers, tubes, slots) are preferably located, which cause the sheets to separate and to float by means of blower air.
From DE 44 13 089 A1, a method for the overlapped feeding of sheet-type printing substrates into a printing machine using a conveyor table is known, in which compressed air flows continuously underneath the overlapped stream, opposite the direction of conveyance of the printing substrate being fed in over the conveyance table.
From DE 40 12 948 A1, a conveyor table for guiding sheets to a printing machine is known, having at least one suction chamber to which an axial fan is attached, along with perforated suction belts circulating about said fan over suction openings in the conveyor table, wherein parallel to the suction belts, openings are provided in the conveyor table which are separated from the suction chamber and are connected to the surrounding environment.
From DE 20 2004 006 615 U1, a device on a conveyor table, preferably on a suction belt table, is known, for transporting sheet-type material in a stream of sheets lying in an overlapping arrangement from a sheet feeder to a sheet processing machine, in particular to a rotary sheet-fed printing machine, having one or more conveyor belts, for example suction belts to which suction air can be applied, which are drivable and are guided continuously about the conveyor table, and having a blower device, which blows air underneath the stream of sheets, outside of the guide region of the conveyor belts, and in the area where guide regions of the conveyor table are located laterally and parallel to the conveyor belts, wherein, at least in the guide regions on the outer side of the conveyor belts, a plurality of individual ventilation openings distributed substantially over the entire surface of the guide regions is provided, and wherein a blower air infeed is provided, such that it is at least partially coupled for ventilation openings in such a way that blower air can be applied essentially to partial areas or to the entire surface of the guide regions, wherein the ventilation openings, preferably in the region of the outlet-side end of the conveyor table, are embodied as nozzles, each aligned from the center of the conveyor table toward the lateral edges.
From DE 101 57 118 A1, a device for braking printed sheets in the delivery of a sheet-fed printing machine and having a sheet brake that operates using suction air is known, wherein the sheet brake is connected via a system of lines and at least one valve to a vacuum generator, so that at the outer radius of the sheet brake, vacuum pressure can be applied to the suction area, wherein at least one sensor for determining the position of the printed sheet and a control device connected downstream are provided, and the valve can be actuated by the control device in response to signals from the at least one sensor.
From DE 10 2009 048 928 A1, an inkjet printer for printing on sheet-type substrates is known, the printer having the following components: a) a printing unit transport device which has at least one revolving printing unit conveyor belt, guided over rollers and having openings, and a suction chamber device, located beneath the printing unit conveyor belt, wherein the printing unit conveyor belt or the printing unit conveyor belts has/have a dedicated drive unit, which impresses/impress a speed on the conveyor belt(s), b) an inkjet printing device located above the upper drum of the printing unit conveyor belt, which is guided approximately horizontally, c) a transport device having at least one revolving belt, disposed upstream of the printing unit transport device in the direction of transport of the printing sheets/printing substrates, wherein the conveyor belt(s) has/have a dedicated drive unit that impress/impresses a speed upon the conveyor belt(s), wherein the ratio of the speed of the printing unit conveyor belt or printing unit conveyor belts of the printing unit transport device to the speed of the conveyor belt or conveyor belts of the transport device situated upstream of the printing unit transport device is selected such that the printing sheets or printing substrates for all sheet formats provided for the inkjet printer come to rest end to end or spaced by a slight distance of up to 10 mm on the printing unit conveyor belt or printing unit conveyor belts.
From DE 101 41 589 B4, a method for operating a sheet processing machine is known, in which the sheets are displaced in the direction of transport and are treated in multiple processing stations, wherein the speed of displacement of the sheets is individually adjustable, wherein the speed of a given sheet is adjusted to the processing step to be carried out in the respective processing station, and wherein the speed of the sheet is different in at least two of the processing stations. In this case, the processing output of the individual processing stations during a certain period of time may be the same, or the processing output of a first processing station may be higher or lower than the processing output of a second processing station upstream or downstream during a certain period of time.
From DE 10 2004 014 521 B3, a device for transporting sheets in printing machines from the printing couples to the sheet delivery pile is known, said device consisting of at least one gripper carriage guided bilaterally on chain tracks and having gripper systems for gripping and guiding the sheets, wherein the gripper carriage follows a rectilinear guide path above the sheet delivery pile, and after depositing a sheet onto a sheet pile is guided along a radius of curvature within a turning region, said device further consisting of leading edge grippers for gripping the leading edges of the sheets and for depositing the sheets onto the sheet delivery pile, wherein a gripper carriage support is provided only on the rectilinear guide path above the sheet delivery pile and in the turning region.
From U.S. Pat. No. 2,198,385 A, a gripper carriage is known, which is supported centrally via a cam follower on a cam disk in the area of transfer from the last sheet guiding cylinder to the gripper carriage, for the purpose of achieving a register-true transfer of the sheet.